


Of Dewbacks and Chemilizards

by galacticfieldtrip



Series: The Ardania Legacy [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen, Unwanted Gifts, petty revenge, sibling shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 00:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12829566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticfieldtrip/pseuds/galacticfieldtrip
Summary: There was a…thingbeside his ship.





	Of Dewbacks and Chemilizards

**Author's Note:**

> i love the creature mounts in swtor, but lore-wise they hardly ever make sense. so, this is me making up ridiculous justifications for why my smuggler has a dewback.

There was a… _thing_ beside his ship.

Kal and Risha both stopped dead in their tracks and took a moment to just look at the creature: reptilian, dark grey with orangeish mottling along its back, and kriffing _huge_. Kal thought that maybe his optical assists were malfunctioning and did a quick reboot, but when they came back online, it was still there. It sighted the two of them and let out a trembling lowing. As if called by the sound, a tiny blue twi’lek darted out from behind the thing and started speaking excitedly in Huttese, quickly enough that even Kal had trouble keeping up.

“You are Captain Kaldes Manei, yes? Congratulations are in order, my dear friend, for you have been gifted a most impressive creature! This embered dewback is a creature much prized on Tatooine for its versatility of utility and stunning beauty—.” At this last word, Kaldes choked a bit. Beautiful wouldn’t really be the word he’d use to describe the dewback, or any dewback for that matter. The twi’lek handler continued, either oblivious or indifferent to the smuggler’s outburst. “This subspecies is very loyal, and by its snuffling, this particular specimen seems to have begun the imprinting process on you! Congratulations, my friend, for you are indeed favored!”

Kaldes’s head was spinning, and he couldn’t quite figure what to focus on: the quivering ball of energy that was the dewback’s handler, the dewback itself, or Risha at his side, desperately trying to withhold her laughter. “Wait, just— Hang on a second! Who sent this thing? I didn’t ask for this.”

The twi’lek brightened and reached into one of his many pockets, withdrawing some kind of root and a disposable datapad. The root he fed to the dewback, and the datapad he handed to Kaldes. “The buyer—my benefactor—asked that this be delivered to you immediately!”

Kal tore his gaze away from the cud-chewing creature in front of him and snatched the ‘pad from the handler’s grasp. As soon as he read the first line, his stomach dropped to somewhere around his boots.

 

_So, it turns out big-name bounty hunting pays pretty well. Who’d’ve thought?_

_Just to preface this, your speeder is terrible and hideous, and I couldn’t help but remember how much you loved Ila. Unfortunately, she’s really one-of-a-kind so I couldn’t exactly get you a lizard too._

_Anyways, I was on Tatooine and saw this lovely dewback and just knew it’d be a perfect match for you. Raas was kind enough to fly it to you for a minimal fee, but remember to tip him well. He has to deal with you, after all._

_Good hunting_

 

“ _Ki_.” Kaldes spat her name like the curse it was.

“Your sister? The Mandalorian one? The bounty hunter who prizes professionalism above all else.” Risha clearly wasn’t buying it, based on her raised eyebrow. Kal, for his part, was still too peeved to acknowledge the amused set to her mouth.

“Don’t let her fool you. She isn’t too high-and-mighty to pass up a chance for some petty revenge. And that’s what this is: petty, expensive revenge.” The eyebrow was still cocked, and Risha was still skeptical.

“So your sister bought you a very expensive, exotic creature…to get revenge.”

“Yes.”

The petulance in Kal’s expression nearly broke Risha’s stoic facade, but she managed to maintain control. “Why, exactly, would your sister want revenge on you?” Kal’s eyes turned shifty, refusing to look at his friend, and Risha’s tone sharpened. “Kaldes Manei, _what did you do_?”

“Ah. Well. I might have said some things? About her lizard?”

Risha knew precisely what Kal was referring to. When she had first met Kianto, the woman had galloped up to the smuggling crew on an enormous chemilizard in full _beskar’gam_ , scattering pedestrians and vendors alike in a cloud of dust and lizard roars. It was, if nothing else, a memorable entrance.

What had become apparent over the course of their time together was how much Kianto adored the hideous brute, affectionately nicknamed Ila; she claimed to have rescued it from Nem’ro’s beast pits on Hutta and had somehow managed to wrestle a riding harness onto the damn thing. Risha had thought that she should have left it in the muck, but was savvy enough to not say so. Kal, apparently, had not shared in this wisdom.

Risha pinched the bridge of her nose, breathed deeply, and counted to ten before saying, “You mean that you insulted your obscenely rich sister’s beloved pet lizard and thought she wouldn’t retaliate?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“Your lack of foresight continues to astound.”

Okay, that was unfair. “How was I supposed to know that she'd respond like…like _this_?” He gestured wildly at the dewback.

“I dunno,” said Risha. “I think she’s kinda cute, you know, in a lumbering, ugly kinda way.”

Kal spluttered. “ _She_ ? How do you even know that thing’s a _she_?”

Risha gave him an imperious look, perfectly befitting her status as a princess. “I just know these things, Captain. And you need to give her a name.”

“We are _not_ keeping it.”

“She’s already imprinting on you.”

“Don’t care.”

“So you're just going to leave her here in the spaceport?” There was a knowing glint in Risha’s eye. “Fine by me. Just make sure she makes it back to Tatooine. Although, that might be difficult given that the twi’lek has mysteriously disappeared.”

Kal looked around the hangar and swore. She was right: the hyperactive handler had managed to slip away completely unnoticed. Crafty little fucker. “Or,” Risha continued, “you can keep her, and bring her to your next meeting with your sister. You know she won't be expecting that. Besides, think of all the…possibilities for your own payback.”

Kal’s face broke out into a smile. “I knew there was a reason I loved you, Rish.”

“Don’t get all misty-eyed on me, Captain. Now come on; we’ve got places to be and money to make.” With that, she boarded the freighter, leaving Kaldes behind with the dewback, who gave another grumble and pushed its rather sizeable head into his chest.

After checking to make sure no one was around to see, Kal tentatively scratched the dewback’s head. Apparently satisfied with this, the dewback dropped its— _her_ —head onto his shoulder with a contented sigh. Kal’s knees nearly buckled under the weight.

She looked up at Kal with adoring eyes, and _okay_ , maybe Risha was right about the kinda-sorta cute thing. He sighed. “I guess you're not completely awful.” The dewback snuffled an agreement and began chewing contentedly on Kal’s hair. He sighed again and carefully extricated himself before he went bald. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s get you settled on the ship. And then…” He grinned, absentmindedly stroking the scaly hide next to him. “Then, we get back at my sister.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask me where they keep the dewback on the ship. maybe it bunks with corso.


End file.
